Perfect Strawberry Maple Syrup

I love flavored syrups on pancakes. It's a great way to spice up otherwise boring, plain pancakes. It's also a great way to create interesting flavor combinations by adding them to pancakes that are already special on their own.

I had been on the search for a perfect strawberry (or any fruit, really) maple syrup recipe for a while though. All of the recipes I found had extras like orange juice, apple cider, corn syrup, vanilla extract, water, flour... the list goes on. But none of them were exactly what I was looking for. I decided to give it a try and make my own. Plain old strawberries and maple syrup. No frills. And wow! I do believe I've found it! We had this over chocolate chip pancakes, and it was amazing!

Perfect Strawberry Maple Syrup

6-8 large strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Directions: Simmer strawberries and syrup over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, while smashing strawberries with a fork. Pour over your favorite pancakes and enjoy! Makes 2 servings. Enjoy!

(Haven't tried this yet, but I bet this recipe would be good with any type of fruit- blueberries, blackberries, apples... 

Also, this makes for a fairly thick syrup, so you may want to top with a bit of extra maple syrup after the fruit.)

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Sometimes my husband has amazing ideas. Absolutely amazing. Like on Saturday morning, when I had extra spiced glaze from the pumpkin scones that was quickly hardening and I didn't know what to do with. I asked him if there was anything he wanted to put it on, knowing full well we didn't have anything that it would really work on, and he said, "how about we mix it with maple syrup?" Um, hello genius! That would be amazing! And it would be the perfect topping for the pumpkin spice pancakes I have on my list, which have totally just been bumped up to today. And I'm so glad they were bumped up- these were delicious!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoon of brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of ground ginger
Dash of ground cloves
1 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil or melted butter

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices and stir to combine. Combine the milk, pumpkin puree, egg and oil or butter in a small bowl add them to the dry ingredients. Whisk together just until combined.

Preheat the oven to 200, and have an oven safe plate or serving dish ready.  Heat a greased skillet or griddle over medium heat and once the skillet is hot, add about a 1/3 cup scoop of batter to the pan. Let it cook until bubbles begin to form on the top. Carefully flip and cook the other side until golden brown, a couple minutes more. Transfer the cooked pancake to the oven safe dish, and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all batter has been cooked, regreasing the pan as needed. Serve with cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, and/or whipped cream.

For the spiced maple syrup, halve the recipe for the spiced glaze on the pumpkin scones (here) and add about an equal part maple syrup to the glaze. Stir well.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats, original recipe here.

Pumpkin Scones

It's that time of year again! What time is that, you may ask? Well, how about we just call it pumpkin baking season! There are so many delicious pumpkin recipes I am just dying to try this fall. Some of the ones on the list are pumpkin maple cream cheese, double chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, mini pumpkin cheesecakes, and a savory pot pie of sorts with pumpkin, squash, and cheeses. Yum! I'm so happy to get started.

The first one I chose to make is Pumpkin Scones. They were just perfect for a sunny, slightly cool fall morning.

Pumpkin Scones

for the scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 Tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves

2 Tablespoons of milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.

Mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk to combine, then add the butter pieces. Fold them in with a pastry knife until they are no larger than the size of peas, and the batter resembles large crumbs. Add the butterscotch chips and stir in.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir well. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Divide into about 1/3 cup rough balls and place on a parchment-lined baking pan. Place in oven and immediately turn it down to 375. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, whisk together powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves in a small bowl. Add milk, and whisk until smooth and combined. Drizzle over scones. Enjoy!

Adapted from Annie's Eats, original recipe here.

New Recipe Review- Bacon and Cheddar Waffles

For my new recipe last week, I chose Bacon and Cheddar Waffles. I was craving breakfast for dinner, waffles in particular, but didn't want something overly sweet. So I googled savory waffles and found this recipe on mrbreakfast.com (who'd have thought?). Interesting...

I don't have too much to say about them- they were really easy and turned out well. They were a tad too salty, but that was probably because I accidentally used 8 slices of bacon instead of 6, oops. Apparently I can't count. Or I subconsciously really love bacon.


I served them with a bit of maple syrup (the sweet/salty combo really worked), hash browned potatoes, and orange juice. I would definitely try these again- perfect breakfast for dinner! Original recipe here.

Peanut Butter Pancakes

I didn't mean for this to turn into a cooking blog, I really didn't. I started it as a blog mostly for decorating and little home improvements, but unfortunately that is an expensive and time-consuming habit. I really can't do DIY projects or buy new things or redecorate rooms often enough to have a regularly updated blog about it. But cooking, now that's something I need to do (almost) every day. So why not make it fun and interesting?

On that note... here comes a snowy morning breakfast recipe review: peanut butter pancakes. I was immediately intrigued when I saw this recipe. I've had all sorts of pancakes, but never peanut butter. And H and I love peanut butter!

I served them with banana slices dipped in brown sugar/melted butter and sautéed (is that the right word?) on a non stick pan until they were soft and browned on the outside. Then maple syrup and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. They were truly awesome. Here is the recipe.


A word of caution though- they definitely stick to the pan more than regular pancakes. The first batch broke apart while flipping, even on my non-stick griddle that I've never had any issues with before. The next batch I buttered the griddle and they worked better. Still delicious though!

Corn and Cranberry Scones

After a tough morning of raking while H was in class, I made these for brunch while enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate.


Here is the recipe (originally from sfgate.com) I can never find dried cherries at the grocery store, so I use craisins instead. They come out just as good I'm sure.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup + 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups medium-grind yellow cornmeal
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 cup dried sweet cherries
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°. Adjust rack in center of oven. Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat.

Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl. Add salt, 2/3 cup sugar, and the cornmeal. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add butter and cut in with a pastry cutter until it is the size of small peas. Using the spoon, mix in cherries. Make a well in the center; add buttermilk. Mix briefly, until ingredients just come together; some loose flour should remain at bottom of bowl. Let the batter stand for 5 minutes.

Gently shape the dough into balls about 2 1/4 inches in diameter (they should have a rough, rocky exterior) and place them on the prepared pans about 2 inches apart.

Sprinkle the 1/4 cup sugar on top of the scones. Place the scones on the middle rack of the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375°. Bake about 20 minutes, or until the scones are golden. Transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool. Yields 15-20 scones



Yeah, except I think I only got about 8 of them out of it :P